A quantity surveyor estimates and monitors the construction and maintenance costs of buildings and infrastructure such as residential buildings, hospitals, office blocks, roads, stadiums, tunnels, bridges, airports, and other construction projects.

Quantity surveyors work predominantly in an office, while making frequent visits to the construction site to monitor work progress when construction starts. They can work in private practice in consulting quantity surveying firms, in contractor firms as commercial managers or contractors’ quantity surveyors, in the public sector as government employees in ministries of housing, public works, infrastructure development or other parastatals that require their services, in academia as researchers and educators, in software development as business development managers and domain experts – especially for manufacturers of construction software, and entrepreneurs/investors in various sectors of the country’s economy.

Their work is to ensure construction costs are accurately estimated at the early stages of a project, and accurately monitored in all phases of the project to ensure projects remain on budget and funds do not run out before the completion of these projects.

According to the Architectural Association of Kenya, quantity surveyors’ main skills are in the measurement of building quantities and the analysis of design and cost relationships. They advise on and control the construction budget, deal with contract procedures, contract documentation, and the financial administration of construction contracts.

Quantity Surveying Course Enrolment Requirements in Kenya

The quantity surveying course in Kenya is available at universities, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, colleges, and other institutions of higher learning. You can start with a diploma and a degree, depending on your scores in the country’s high school national examinations.

Minimum requirements for a bachelor’s degree in quantity surveying are as follows, according to the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS):

• Mean grade: C+ (C Plus), and C+ or higher in these core subjects: Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, Physics.

The minimum requirements for a quantity surveying diploma course are a mean grade of C plain, and the minimum C plain scores in the following individual subjects: Mathematics, Physics, English and Kiswahili.

The host institutions develop their curricula, especially for the bachelor’s degree programmes, which are reviewed and approved by the Commission for University Education (CUE) – Kenya, with input from the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors (BORAQS). For colleges and TVET institutions, the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA) manages their curricula.

Student Placement Paths in a Learning Institution

Students seeking to pursue a course in quantity surveying have two options in terms of placement, like all students pursuing other courses. These placement paths currently (as of April 2024) are either joining through a government sponsorship programme or through a self-sponsorship programme.

Placement through a Government Sponsorship Program

The government has mandated the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to facilitate this procedure. The institutions offering the course provide the placement service with the number of students they can comfortably host, depending on their available learning support infrastructure.

When the students apply, the placement service then places students based on how well they meet the minimum enrolment requirements discussed earlier. The best-performing students are more likely to be considered first, as there is a lot of competition for these courses.

The advantage of this arrangement is that the government pays a portion of your school tuition fees. You will also be granted priority when applying for student loans from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB).

Placement through Self-Sponsorship

Alternatively, you can apply for a Quantity Surveying course at your preferred institution through their central admissions office or the offices of the university registrar of students.

You will be required to have met the minimum course entry requirements to be accepted. Whereas the placement through the KUCCPS is very competitive and you may not receive an opportunity if your high school national examination scores are not very high, this option is more accommodating as long as you have met the minimum requirements and can pay your school fees and other expenses.

Professional Qualification and Registration as a Quantity Surveyor

After graduation, you need to plan to become a professional quantity surveyor. The Board of Registration for Architects and Quantity Surveyors (BORAQS) is in charge of registering quantity surveyors and administering professional examinations, which, if an individual passes, they can then apply for registration as a quantity surveyor.

To be eligible for this professional examination, you must have at least twenty-four (24) months of post-graduation experience in quantity surveying working under the supervision of a registered quantity surveyor, after completing your bachelor’s degree.

Conclusion

Gaining qualifications via a diploma or degree program is vital to becoming a quantity surveyor in Kenya.

However, admission into the bachelor’s programme is very competitive. The better your scores, the higher your chances of being placed through the government sponsorship program.

Students have the option to either self-sponsor or get placed through the competitive government placement service.

Completing a bachelor’s degree is a key step to becoming a quantity surveyor. Also, to progress in your career and become registered by the registration board, you must gain a minimum practical experience after graduation and pass a prescribed professional examination.